


Sister of Mercy

by IGOM



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Accidental Pregnancy, Felix doesn't get a tag because he's literally one line, Implied crush on Dedue, Momcedes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29245134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IGOM/pseuds/IGOM
Summary: Claude overhears a conversation between Mercedes and Teach and gets roped into helping Mercedes with a very delicate problem.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	Sister of Mercy

Claude never meant to eavesdrop. There he was, minding his own business, wandering his way to Teach’s room to show her his doodle of a ballista that could be fired by mounted units; the drawing constituted the bulk of his notes from the extra credit lecture by Seteth. He stopped short when he heard someone sobbing inside her room as he approached. Crying and voices behind the shut door.

“-Manuela first, but she’s, well.” He heard a soft voice say, the distinct voice of Mercedes.

“Manuela.” Byleth finished for her, and Mercedes laughed. “To be honest, I’m not sure what to do in this situation. I don’t know what herbs might help with preventing pregnancy. Especially after the deed is done.”

He blushed; he definitely didn’t want to get caught listening in to this kind of conversation, even on accident. Claude turned on his heel and went to walk away even as he heard Mercedes say, “I just thought I’d come to you next, since the other option is Hanneman, and well, no.” More laughter. “Well, thank you, anyway, Professor. Perhaps she can stay with you a little longer to calm down and finish her tea?”

He was too far away to hear Teach’s reply, but he heard footsteps and scraping of chairs; he’d better get moving. Claude picked up his feet even as he heard the door open. “Oh, Claude!”

He turned around, smiling as wide as he could. He’d spoken perhaps twice to Mercedes before; their interests were simply too different to talk much more often than that. But now she was looking at him with wide, hopeful eyes, her long honey hair spilling over her shawl as it always did. “Mercedes, hi.”

If she suspected he had overheard, she didn’t show it; instead, her eyes were wide as she smiled. “You know a lot about plants, right? I’ve heard you have quite a collection of them and do experiments on in your room.”

This felt like a trap; did she want to know if he had heard anything? “I mean, yes, some, but mostly poisonous. I have a few I haven’t found any use for and some I haven’t tested.”

“Could you show me? I’m looking for something in particular, and I’d know it if I saw it.”

He hesitated; just what was he so worried about? Mercedes seemed harmless enough. “Sure.”

She followed him up to the second floor of the dormitory to the end of the hall where Claude’s room lay. Gods, his books were everywhere, and he hurried to shut the open ones before she could see some of his more questionable interests. “Sorry, it’s kind of cluttered.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all. You’re clearly doing a lot of studying on your own,” she said with a tinkling laugh that reminded him of chimes. “Though it would be dangerous to have a fire in here with all these books.” She eyed the scorch marks on the floor.

Goddess, he could feel his cheeks getting hot, and he scratched his neck. “Yeah, sometimes my experiments don’t quite go how they’re supposed to. But I keep the books away from that when I’m working.”

She laughed again. “Dimitri mentioned how there’s been a couple explosions that Dedue heard from his room and came to check on. So that was you?”

He nodded; now even his neck felt flushed when she covered her mouth to stifle her giggles. Just what was it about Mercedes that could make him become so undone so quickly? He’d better find his kit and get her out of here before he was spilling all his secrets out. A hand under the bed, and his fingers found the edge of his apothecary kit. Nothing too extensive, nothing like his collection at home, but he had a decent collection, all neatly labeled. Poisons, plants to be made into poisons, other flowers and fungi he had yet to determine a use for.

Mercedes sat beside him on the bed, her knee brushing against his as she leaned in. “Oh, wow, you’re quite talented.” She picked up one of the vials and examined it. “Have you ever considered making something other than poisons?”

“I mean, I make antidotes, too, but those are in another case.” Hidden under a floorboard he’d pried loose; how many times had someone tried to steal his antidote kit back home before he’d learned that lesson?

Another giggle. “No, silly, I mean things that Manuela needs. If you’d like, I could ask her if she needs help, she and I have an understanding.” She picked up one of his plants, a long willowy thing that dried well. “A lot of the girls around here need things like this, and if perhaps we could make it into a tincture instead of tea, it might be easier.” She smiled. “And I’m sure Dedue would appreciate not listening to the explosions if they set you up for your experiments somewhere other than your dorm room.”

Claude considered her; she was nothing like he expected with all her piety and her soft voice. “You’re friends with Dedue?”

She nodded, and something in that smile became private; perhaps she would like to be more than friends someday. “He’s been telling me about Duscur religion, and I find it all so interesting. Did you know they have gods for just about everything?”

He cleared his throat, his secrets creeping up and hiding behind his teeth. Everyone knew where Dedue was from; Claude’s home was secret for about twenty reasons both rational and not. “I didn’t.” He touched the willowy grass in her hand. “I ate some of this and nothing happened. What does it do?”

“You ate it? Is that normal for you to do?” Mercedes’ laugh chimed again when he nodded. “Well, it wouldn’t do anything for you. When a girl thinks she might be in the family way and doesn’t want to be-“ she waved the plant in the air “-two cups of tea with this makes it go away. Most of the time, anyway.” She smiled. “A lot of the girls see me as an older sister, so when accidents happen, they usually come to me.”

“And you go to Manuela.” She nodded. Huh. “You know, you’re nothing like I thought you would be, Mercedes.”

“Because I spend most of my time praying to the goddess? Hrm.” Claude watched her consider this, her face serene in its contemplation. “Well, I figure I want to help as many people as I can, and if this is what the Goddess wants me to do while I’m in Garreg Mach, well, who am I to object?” She patted his knee. “Let me know if you find more of this, I can come to you if Manuela is, well, Manuela.”

He laughed with her; they all knew there was about a fifty-fifty chance that they would find their resident healer sleeping off a hangover on one of the infirmary beds. “Of course, Mercedes.”

“You know, Claude, I’m always happy to help anyone, even if it’s just to listen.” He looked up into her eyes, almost afraid of the open friendliness there. “I won’t tell anyone.”

“I…” At last, he found the will to shake his head. “Thanks, Mercedes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

He watched her leave. Somewhere nearby, he heard Sylvain. “Mercedes, your loveliness is stepping out with Claude von Riegan? I thought you and I had a thing going on.” Great, now that was going to be the gossip.

“Sure, Sylvain. Keep dreaming, and maybe some day it will come true.” Windchime laughter, and her soft steps down the hall.

Sure enough, Sylvain popped his head into Claude’s room with a shit-eating grin, but he stopped short when he saw the apothecary kit still open on his lap, and then Sylvain’s face crumbled. “Oh, you were helping Mercedes with that.”

Of course Gautier would know; he was probably half of Mercedes’ “clients” alone. “I don’t know what you mean. She was asking me about my experiments because Dedue complained to her.”

“Dedue complained? It must have been that last time. It was so loud when your…whatever exploded, and the girl I was with thought-“

A banging on the wall. “Shut up for one goddessdamn minute about your sex life, we all suffer through it enough already,” Felix shouted from the other side. “If you’ve got time to chat, come in here and help me with that essay Hanneman assigned.”

“Shit, that’s due tomorrow, isn’t it?” Sylvain was gone.

Claude stood up, shut the door and locked it. So, Mercedes von Martriz; she and Claude made a very unlikely pair of partners in crime, but he had underestimated her by a wide mile. Really, if what he had seen when she spoke about Dedue was real, he almost felt a bit jealous of the man from Duscur. _Wish everyone knew and still liked me_. But no, that was impossible; he couldn’t be both the heir of house Riegan and an Almyran anything, they would run him out of Derdriu. 

He looked at his kit, still open for display, and he picked up the remaining of the willowy plant and pulled the label from around the stems. New label. “Found: field behind the graveyard. Use: lady trouble.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea for awhile now that somehow with all his experiments on plants/fungi to make poison, Claude becomes the hookup for natural home remedies for the ladies of Garreg Mach, but couldn't quite figure out how to put that into a story until now. 
> 
> The plant he gives Mercedes is basically black cohosh, which can be used to regulate periods/hormones.


End file.
